It’s that time of year again.

Before you start freaking out about finals and daydreaming about summer vacation, it’s time to start thinking about plans for next semester’s classes.

A new system has been set in place to assist students in registering for classes. The Visual Schedule Builder has been adopted to make the registration process run smoother.

“Visual Schedule Builder is primarily a registration tool,” Robert Freidhoff, executive director of advising, said. “Instead of taking hours and hours to find a schedule inside of Banner, VSB allows [students] to pull their Degree Works plan into the software and start building the schedule immediately.”

The idea for VSB was conceived with the help of SGA and was tested with a sample schedule. The schedule was created with the program in just four minutes.

Freidhoff ensures that the program is a great enhancement to the registration process.

While the VSB may help with schedule building, it’s appointments with your advisor that help develop your college career path.

“College has quite a few moving pieces and can be pretty confusing. Advisors are able to help students understand how to navigate this experience,” Freidhoff said.

Advising is much more than just picking a major and classes. It’s a time to connect with experts and mentors to make the journey through college a little less daunting.

Advisors and mentors encourage students to connect with faculty in their field. Doing so can guarantee that students get the most out of their major, as well as open the door to various opportunities, such as internships, work study and study abroad.

“In advising, our focus is on building a relationship to best help students identify their strengths earlier in their college experience, so they are better equipped to make good academic and career decisions,” Freidhoff said.

Freidhoff wants students to see advising as more than just a required task.

“The better we know you and your goals, the better we will be able to connect you to resources to achieve your goals,” Freidhoff said.

If you haven’t already, it’s not too late to make an appointment. Advisors’ doors are open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., not just during advising season.

Students are highly encouraged to stop by if they are in need of any type of assistance.

Written by Arelexus Brown, Staff Writer. Photo courtesy of Pexels.

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